By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews
YachatsNews reporter Garret Jaros started his week on Sunday afternoon listening to a speaker at the Lions Club’s monthly series to see if there was more to a Eugene-based land conservation group’s growing presence on the central Oregon coast.
Monday morning he was the only member of the public at the monthly meeting of the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District board as it approved its $2.3 million general fund budget for 2024-25. He then put the final touches on a lengthy report on how changes to the Northwest Forest Plan could affect the local Siuslaw National Forest.
Tuesday he began chasing around news tips in Waldport, attended the 2 p.m. meeting of the Yachats Public Works & Streets Commission (where again he was the only member of the public) and then spent Wednesday pursuing details of a Eugene business wanting to move into the closed Yachats Brewing building before attending a 1 p.m. Yachats city council meeting.
Much of Thursday was spent banging out the Yachats story before ending his day at a 4 p.m. meeting of the Waldport city council. On Friday, he will write the Waldport council story and catch up with other reporting odds and ends from the week.
That’s a quick glimpse of how YachatsNews’ lone paid staffer spent a busy week.
We also rely on freelance reporters and news partners who do a great job covering stories that we might not always get to or have to divert Garret to do. Examples of those this week are Cheryl Romano’s setup of the Waldport’s big Beachcomber Days celebration, Kathleen O’Connor’s “5 Questions and a Secret” feature on a Waldport mother and son at a national wind energy competition, our collaborations with Oregon Coast TODAY and the Lincoln County Historical Society, and stories from news partners like KLCC in Eugene or, this week, a story on Cascade subduction zone research by a national science news service.
And that is why – as I’ve said the past two weeks in stories on our annual local fundraising efforts – we’re trying to raise money to hire a second reporter to cover Lincoln County government and schools, Newport-area issues, housing and homeless issues and myriad other stories in the county that simply need attention. There is just so much news to cover that we think is important for people to know if they want to be informed of some basic workings of their communities.
While there is a Newport-based newspaper owned by a Salem-based chain, no other local media is providing the type of coverage that YachatsNews is currently publishing. As mentioned last week, that was evident in a deep dive into the killing of a tourist last month in Lincoln City, to the resignation and call for state help by the Lincoln County district attorney, to coverage of attempts by Waldport and Yachats to gain more police coverage in south county.
We just want to do more and better – and have to ask for your help to do that. It’s always a bit awkward to ask readers for help – especially this year’s goal of raising $100,000 — but we believe in what we’re doing, that information and local news is important, so we plow ahead with fundraising.
Since YachatsNews became a nonprofit in October 2022 and hired its first reporter, we’ve been clear on our budget and fundraising. Our annual budget for everything from our reporters’ salary, insurance and expenses to freelance pay, fees, insurance, supplies and dozens of other costs total about $82,000 a year. Adding a second reporter would nearly double that budget.
Our revenue comes from our annual fundraising campaign each June (this is the third one), advertising ($9,400 net in 2023 and growing), foundation grants ($38,573 in 2023) and monthly contributions through PayPal ranging from $5 to $25 from 45 donors that averages about $600 a month.
The result is a local news report that tries to provide a snapshot of civic life in south Lincoln County seven days a week.
Our fundraising campaign
YachatsNews has already received $10,000 from the Oregon Community Foundation and $5,000 a year for three years from the Roundhouse Foundation to support this year’s fundraising effort.
In addition, a local donor and his employer are “challenging” readers and supporters by offering a total of $20,000 in matching contributions. Once YachatsNews’ fundraising efforts hit $25,000 the donor will contribute $5,000 — then $5,000 more each time we hit the $50,000, $75,000 and $95,000 marks.
So, here’s how you can financially support YachatsNews with whatever you can contribute:
- Write a check and drop it into the mail to YachatsNews, P.O Box 284, Yachats, Ore., 97498;
- Use the “Donate” button on the website to make a one-time contribution through PayPal;
- Paypal also has a feature where you set up an automatic monthly contribution. More people are doing that now (ranging from $5 to $40 a month) and it is a great stabilizer for our monthly operations and much appreciated;
- Advertise your business or organization on the site. Not only will you gain the additional exposure that 130,000 page views a month can bring, but you will be helping sustain this operation. Here is a link to rates and how to get that process started.
YachatsNews is a 501c3 nonprofit so state and federal governments recognize your donation as a charitable tax deduction.
If you have questions during this one-month fundraising campaign, please reach out to me by email at YachatsNews@gmail.com or just pick up the phone and call me at 503-970-3867.
YachatsNews, its staff, freelancers, board – and thousands of readers – appreciate your support.
- Quinton Smith/editor